Marketing is the process Essay Example

Marketing is the process Essay Marketing is the process used to make it as easy as possible to get the potential customer to buy your product or use their service. Market research is researching what people think about products and services. Market research is researching what e.g sells the best. You benefit from the research. Market research is either primary or secondary. Primary research is finding information that doesnt exist already. An example of primary research is questionnaires, telephone surveys, product resting and working with consumer groups. Advantages are that it provides data that is up to date, relevant and specific to you products. Secondary research is useful for looking at the whole market, and analysing past trends to predict the future. Its research on information that already exists. It involves looking at things like market research reports, or magazines and newspapers. Advantages are that its cheaper than primary research, the data is found easily and its instantly available. I will be using primary research as I will be looking for original information. I have rejected secondary because the information I would gather would be of existing cafes, so there would be no point because I would be basing my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ on other cafes. I want to see what their opinions are on cafes today to see if I can make changes and improvements to attract customers to my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. For my research, I have written a questionnaire. Normallu, questionnaires are designed to find out what customers want from a service or product. My aim is to ask people who often eat in cafes or coffee bars. I have taken into account the disadvantages of using this method. These include: We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing is the process specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing is the process specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing is the process specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer * The information may be inaccurate. * You dont know whom you could be asking. * People may not want to give up their time and may not take it seriously. I have put together a questionnaire to which I shall ask about 10-20 people. From this questionnaire, I will be able to analyse the publics opinion and apply it to my service. I shall take into account what they have said, and what they would like to see changed. I start off the questionnaire by using more specific questions about the person to know if they are the sorts of people Id like to ask. The questions then go into more detail. Questionnaire 1. Have you ever been to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? Yes.. No I asked this question to know if the information this person has is useful or not. 2. What do you look for in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? I asked this to get a general idea of what is important to this person. 3. Do you work in the centre of town? Yes.. No. As I am looking to run my business in the centre of town, this question will tell me if this person is the kind I would be selling my service to. 4. Do you make lunch from home? Yes.. No.. As Im aiming for my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to be used as a place where working people can come to buy their lunch or to have a coffee, I need to know if the person being questioned would use it for this purpose. 5. What cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ do you regularly go to if at all? I asked this to get an insight on what type of place this person likes. 6. When you go to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, what do you usually buy? . This question will help me to see what foods are most important to customers. 7. Why would you use the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? .. This will show me the why they use cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, and to tell me what most people use them for. E.g. if people were to use it for parties, then I would know how to make more business. 8. Do you usually go to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ in your lunch hour? Yes no. This will tell me how many people actually attend cafes at this time. 9. Which of the following is most important to you in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? (tick 2) Hot drinks- e.g. coffee Snacks- e.g. Sandwiches, cakes, cookies Hot food- e.g. soup, potatoes. This will tell me which foods are most important to customers. 10. Do you ever buy hot food in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? If yes, give example. If the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ you regularly attend doesnt serve hot food, would you like that to be changed? Yes .. No. Would you like change? Yes. No. This will show me peoples opinions on hot food in cafes and if people find it important. 11. What is your favourite sandwich? This will give me an idea on which sandwiches will sell the most. 12. Do you prefer hot drinks or cold or both? Hot Cold Both. This question shows me what type of drink appeals most to the customers. 13. How much would you be willing to pay for Coffee/ Hot chocolate. Sandwich.. Piece of cake. Bowl of Soup.. By asking this question, I will know what customers will be willing to pay, and it will give me a rough idea on how much I should be selling my products for. 14. Do you prefer lots of choice, or simple. E.g. Yellow cheese/ Orange cheese or just cheese? Choice.. Simple Some people find it frustrating when there is so much choice, because they dont really care. So by asking this question, I will know what people prefer and if its an advantage or not to have choice. 15. Do you feel you can relax in cafes today? Yes No This question will give me ideas on how to improve from what there already is. 16. Do you think there are too many cafes that are too similar and you would like to see change? . This will give tell me if people are happy with what cafes are today, and if I should make my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ original, or if I would have more customers if I make my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ similar to present cafes. 17. What would you like to see changed? . By having ideas of what people want, I can apply it to my business to attract more customers. These were the results to my questionnaire. I asked 10 people of different ages and back rounds. 1. What do you look for in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? From these results, I gathered the four main points that people look for in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ are that they have reasonable prices, a relaxed atmosphere, good quality food and drinks and that they are clean. Out of just these points, the fundamental point for customers is good quality food and drinks. So to attract more customers, I will have to sell good quality food and drink. I also aim to have a relaxed atmosphere and for my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to be completely safe and clean. 2.Do you work in the centre of town? Yes No 3.Do you make lunch from home? Yes No Most people do make lunch from home, but there are still a fair amount who buy from cafes in town. 4. Have you ever been to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? Yes No Everyone I asked has been to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ at least once. 5. What Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ do you regularly go to, if at all? The most popular cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ is Starbucks. Starbucks is a very popular successful business that will be large competitors. They are very well known. This could be a threat; I will have to compete with Starbucks and find ways to attract as many or more customers. I also know that this is the type of cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ most people like. 6.When you go to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ what do you usually buy? These results show me that hot drinks are the most important to customers. They are definitely the most popular. This means hot drinks at my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ are essential. Proper meals arent as popular, so they are not as important. 7. Why do you use the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? From these results, I know why people use cafes and what sort of market Im looking at. Ill know who is most likely to use my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, and this will help me see if the location for my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ is suitable. I can see that most people like to use cafes to relax and to take a break. This means that the location my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ is in is suitable, near the centre of town, because thats where working people are, and when they take a break, they will hopefully use my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. 8. Do you usually go to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ in your lunch hour? Yes No From these answers, I know if the person goes to a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ regularly for lunchtime purposes. 9.Which of the following is most important to you in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? (Tick 2) Hot drinks. Snacks- e.g. Sandwiches, cakes, cookies. Hot food- e.g. soup, potatoes.. From these results, it is obvious that people are more interested in hot drinks and snacks then hot foods, therefore hot drinks and snacks are much more important than hot foods. 10. Do you ever buy hot food in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½? If yes, give an example. If the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ you regularly attend doesnt serve hot food, would you like that to be changed? Yes.. No Would you like change? Yes.. No Yes- Examples of what hot foods they have eaten in cafes: No- Would they like change * Pasta dishes * Potatoes * Salads * Hot chocolate cake * Soups Yes- No- From this question, I can see that people do enjoy hot foods, but they dont find it a necessity and if they do buy hot foods, its usually quite basic choices. The people who attend cafes that dont sell hot food dont seem to be bothered. They dont want change, they are happy without it hot food. This leaves me with a choice, I could either serve hot food, or not. Either way, hopefully I will still attract customers. 11. What is your favourite sandwich? This is an open-ended question and I got various choices as different people like different things. I noticed that the most popular choice was tuna and salad. Cheese and tomato is also quite popular. I know that these two choices of sandwiches should sell well in a cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ because they are popular. 12. Do you prefer hot drinks, cold drinks or both? From these results, I can see that people like both hot and cold drinks. Customers like to have the choice. 13. How much would you be willing to pay for: Coffee/ Hot chocolate.. Sandwich Piece of cake Bowl Of Soup Product Average price Coffee/ Hot chocolate à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.05 Sandwich à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3.55 Piece of Cake à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3.40 Bowl of soup à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4.30 From these results, I have an idea on how much customers would be willing to pay for these items. 14. Do you prefer lots of choice or simple e.g. Yellow cheese/Orange cheese or just cheese? Choice. Simple. From these results, it is obvious that people prefer to have choice. Therefore I will make sure to have choice in my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. 15. Do you feel you can relax in cafes today? Yes No From these results, I can see that people feel relaxed and comfortable in cafes today. 16. Do you think there are too many cafes that are too similar and you would like to see change? People answered this question by saying no, but a few answered by saying that there are many similar cafes, but they dont know how they could be changed and they are happy with the way they are now. So I shouldnt make my cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ too unique because people are happy with the way they are now and they might not want a dramatic change. They may want a traditional normal cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. 18. What would you like to see changed? Not one person wrote anything for this question, which means no one is aware of anything they want changed. Summary I have learnt a lot from doing this questionnaire. It has given me an insight to what people want and it is a useful way to find out how to get lots of customers. By looking at what the people I will be selling to want and by letting them have a say, It means I can use what they have said and actually put the information to use to attract more customers. I have learnt many things on what the customers will want. I have found out who are my prime competitors, I have found out that hot drinks are the most popular and wanted product, I have found out that good quality food and drinks are the most important to people. I will put this information I have found out, along with everything else, into account and this will help me to build a successful business. For future, I could improve my questionnaire by asking more people, because I only asked 10 people which isnt really a big range, and I could ask more questions.